In this time of crisis Britain's hill-goers have been called on to dig deep, by donating the spare toilet roll stashes from their packs in aid of a nation caught short.

"Most of us will be familiar with the term backpack bogroll" explains Lou Rawls of Share-a-Sheet, an initiative to bring together the needy and the needless.

"Rummage around in the bowels of your sack and you're bound to unearth a wad of nearly-new toilet paper, put by for emergencies and long since forgotten.

"Since we are all staying at home within easy reach of bathroom facilities, these supplies are now lying idle, an untapped resource. At the same time others are in a mess and going without. But never have we been more in it together. Well now we want to flush out your unusued stock."

It is estimated that the total amount of spare paper held back for just-in-case in Britain's rucksacks is sufficient to wipe out the national deficit of toilet tissue.

"Go on, spread the love" says Rawls.

Department of Health officials were quick, as ever, to spot a procurement opportunity.

"Since climbers and walkers will already be posting their unused tissues, we would invite them to include a few sanitary towels. These can be repurposed as surgical masks for our brave and valued health workers" said government spokesperson Eamon R.Swipe.

"You might think we've been caught with our pants down, but as we have always said since at least last Monday, pre-emptive action is the secret of successful disaster management. Spend a penny before the need becomes truly urgent and you won't find yourself up the creek when the crap hits the fan..."